Infinitesimals  Pro- 
Scientific     ~noint 

By 
-  J.  K.  Se 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

AT   LOS  ANGELES 


ROBERT  ERNEST  COWAN 


,       •! 

ompli  merits 

of  the  Author 


J 


PREFACE. 


TTTilOSE  who  read  the  daily  papers  last  June  will  remember  that 
*  1  two  Homoeopathic  physicians  were  appointed  by  the  Mayor  of  the 
City  of  Oakland  to  fill  vacancies  which  were  supposed  to  exist  in  the 
Board  of  Health.  Immediately  on  this  announcement  the  Homoeo- 
paths, as  a  School  of  Medicine,  were  held  up  to  ridicule  in  the  "public 
press "  by  some  of  the  Allopathic  physicians.  The  attack  was 
promptly  met  by  myself  and  others,  and  a  spirited  "  discussion," 
which  was  published  in  the  Oakland  Enquirer,  was  continued  for 
some  weeks. 

By  one  of  the  Allopaths  it  was  asserted,  with  a  great  flourish  ot 
trumpets^  "that  there  is  absolutely  no  medicine  in  even  the  sixth 
dilution,"  which  is  frequently  prescribed  by  Homoeopathic  physi- 
cians. This  statement  was  shown)  at  the  time,  to  be  incorrect,  as 
the  microscope  had  demonstrated  that  there  were  particles  of  gold  to 
be  seen  in  the  twelfth  dilution,  and  the  spectroscope  has  shown  that 
there  is  medicine  in  much  higher  potencies. 

On  other  lines  Science  has  demonstrated  that  the  mightiest  forces 
in  nature  are  the  imponderables.  As  an  example^  take  electricity. 
No  person  at  all  acquainted  with  Science  will  claim  that  it  is 
material — that  it  is  anything,  in  fact,  but  a  product  of  the  rotary 
motion  of  the  molecules  of  matter,  and  yet  it  is  capable  of  driving 
tifty-horse-power  through  a  gimlet-hole.  Who  is  there  so  puerile  as 
to  attempt  to  deny  the  presence  and  power  of  invisible  things?  That 
prejudice  and  bigotry  will  dwarf  the  human  intellect  was  demon- 
strated by  the  ''  discussion  "  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 

The  following  paper  was  written  as  one  of  the  series,  but  before 
it  was  ready  for  publication  the  editor  of  the  Enquirer  had  closed 
his  paper  to  the  "  discussion." 

Among  other  things,  it  suggests  a  new  theory  of  disease,  which  is 
cleai'ly  borne  out  by  the  discoveries  of  modern  science. 

The  doctrine  that  all  physiological  phenomena  whatever  can  be 
accounted  for  without  going  beyond  the  bounds  of  physical  and 


chemical  science,  is   taught   by  the   best   informed  scientists   of  the 
present  day. 

It  is  claimed  in  this  paper  that  disease  is  disturbed  atomic  and 
molecular  motion.  It  has  long  been  held  that  all  physiological  phe- 
nomena are  the  result  of  cell  action ;  and  it  is  now  known  that  the 
cell  is  what  its  contained  atoms  and  molecules  make  it.  Any 
change,  therefore,  in  the  motions  of  the  molecules  contained  within 
the  cells  must,  of  course,  change  the  results  wrought  out  by  cell 
action.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  if  the  normal  movements  of 
the  molecules  be  disturbed,  abnormal  cell  action  or  disease  must 
be  the  result.  This  being  true,  it  is  evident  that  to  restore  the 
disturbed  molecules  of  the  cell  to  their  normal  movements,  the 
remedy  or  medicine  must  be  sufficiently  minute  to  reach  the  cell, 
not  only,  but  to  penetrate  to  ihe  contained  molecules  and  atoms. 

This  paper  lias  been  read  before  three  Scientific  Societies  and  its 
publication  urged.  I  have,  therefore,  concluded  to  give  it  to  the 
public  in  its  present  form. 

J.-   M    SELFRIDUE,   M.  D. 


INFINITESIMALS 


.      .      FROM    A      .       . 


J.  M.  SELFRIDGE,  M.  D. 

OAKLAND,  CAL. 


Great  interest  has  been  manifested  in  the  study  of  minute  organ- 
isms ever  since  the  microscope  was  first  discovered,  and  from  time 
to  time,  as  improvements  have  been  made  in  the  magnifying  powers 
of  the  instrument,  new  discoveries  have  been  announced.  About 
two  decades  ago  great  impetus  was  given  in  this  direction  by  the 
discovery  of  those  micro-fossils  —  the  diatoms.  Their  study  and 
classification,  although  pursued  more  for  amusement  than  for  the 
advancement  of  science,  was  productive  of  good  in  this — it  stimu 
lated  the  makers  of  optical  instruments  to  still  more  improve  the 
magnifying  powers  of  the  microscope,  until  at  the  present  time  it 
may  with  truth  be  said  we  have  reached,  for  practical  work,  the 
out-limit  of  the  power  to  magnify.  With  this  improvement  in  opti- 
cal instruments  scientific  investigation  was  greatly  stimulated,  and, 
as  a  result,  great  advancement  in  biological  and  histological  knowl- 
edge has  been  made.  One  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  the  modern 
microscope  was  the  discovery  and  classification  of  those  micro- 
organisms known  as  bacteria,  some  of  them  being  so  minute  as  to 
measure  less  than  the  one  seventy-thousandth  of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter. To  the  human  intellect  this  is  inconceivably  small,  and  yet  in 
some  instances  these  minute  objects  are  armed  with  ciliary  projec- 
tions which  are  so  small  that,  after  being  magnified  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  times,  they  are  scarcely  visible.  These  micro- 
organisms are  minute  cells  that  contain  protoplasm,  ''a  particularly 


complex  chemical  substance  out  of  which  all  living  things,  animals 
and  plants  are  formed."  It  is  "  made  up  of  many  atoms  of  carbon, 
hydrogen,  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  with  a  small  number  of  atoms  of 
sulphur  and  phosphorus,  more  than  a  thousand  of  ihem  in  one 
molecule." 

Small  though  these  microbes  are,  how  ir.tinitely  minute,  must  be 
the  atoms  of  which  they  are  composed  when  it  takes  a  thousand  of 
them  to  make  one  of  the  molecules  of  which  they  themselves  are 
constructed. 

While  there  are  seventy  or  more  elements,  and  (i  it  appears  that 
the  individual  atoms  of  each  element  are  precisely  alike,"  it  does 
not  follow  that  all  molecules  are  of  the  same  size.  A  molecule  is 
made  up  of  atoms  chemically  combined,  and  their  size  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  atoms  they  contain.  For  example,  a  molecule 
of  water  is  made  up  of  three  atoms — two  of  hydrogen  and  one  of 
oxygen,  while  "  .1  molecule  of  alum  contains  about  one  hundred," 
and  according  to  Mulder,  a  molecule  of  albumen  contains  nearly  a 
thousand  atoms;  and,  according  to  the  same  authority,  the  diameter 
of  a  molecule  of  alum  would  be  equal  to  the  one  ten-million-seven 
hundred  and  seventy-six  thousandth  of  an  inch,  while  the  diameter 
of  a  molecule  of  albumen  would  be  the  one  five-millionth  of  an 
inch. 

The  molecules  of  matter  are  exceedingly  interesting  objects  for 
study,  but  they  can  only  be  studied  in  combination,  for  when  set 
free  the\r  develop  a  tremendous  amount  of  energy,  and  the  rapidity 
of  their  motions  precludes  the  possibility  of  &  single  one  being  seen. 
For  example,  "a  free  molecule  of  hydrogen  has  a  velocity  of  motion 
at  ordinary  temperatures  of  upwards  of  a  mile  in  a  second,  and  its 
direction  of  motionAchanged  millions  of  times  in  a  second.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  molecules  of  all  bodies  are  so 
perfectly  transparent  that  they  can  no  more  be  seen  than  the  air, 
even  if  there  were  no  difficulty  from  their  small  ness?  and  their 
motions.  If  the  atoms  of  a  single  element  like  hydrogen  are  so 
minute,  so  restless  and  so  transparent  that  no  one  can  hope  to  see 
them  so  as  to  make  out  their  forms  and  what  gives  them  their 
characteristic  properties,  what  shall  be  said  of  the  case  of  seventy 
or  more  elements  similarly  minute  and  restless  and  transparent,  yet 
each  one  easily  identified  in  several  ways,  physical  and  chemical  1 " 

An  atom    is   the  chemist's    unit,  but  "  the  term  is  not  now  under- 


stood  to  signify  what  is  implied  in  its  derivation,  as  something  that 
cannot  lie  divided,  only  as  something  that  has  not  yet  been  broken 
up  into  smaller  fragments." 

Now,  as  Dolhear  says,  "Let  it  be  granted  chat  atoms  are  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  one  fifty-millionth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  then,  if 
a  thousand  of  them  are  organized  into  a  molecule,  its  diameter 
would  lie  about  the  five-millionth  of  an  inch."  This  being  so,  "a 
speck  of  protoplasm  one  ten-thousandth  of  an  inch  in  diameter 
would  require  not  less  than  five  hundred  such  molecules  in  a  row  to 
span  it ;  and  there  would  be  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  millions  of  such  molecules  in  the  small  raass." 

As  I  have  already  said,  some  of  the  microorganisms  are  less 
than  the  one  seventy-thousandth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  yet 
they  eat,  (by  absorption)  digest  and  excrete  material  substances,  so 
minute  that  che  human  mind  grows  dizzy  at  the  thought  of  attempt- 
ing to  determine  their  dimensions.  Minute  though  these  objects 
are,  they  grow  and  multiply.  This  is  done  by  what  is  called  fission, 
or  the  cutting  of  themselves  in  halves  or  quarters.  Now,  for  the 
sake  of  comparison,  let  us  suppose  that  these  minute  objects  are 
human  beings.  If  thin  were  so,  a  million  of  them  conld  waltz 
on  the  point  of  the  finest  cambric  needle.  So  far  as  science  has 
been  able  to  determine  these-  micro-organisms  are  the  smallest  of 
living  beings,  but,  small  as  they  are,  they  bear  no  comparison  in 
point  of  minuteness  to  the  infinitesimal  particles  into  which  matter  can 
be  divided  But,  before  entering  upon  the  study  of  the  divisibility  of 
matter,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  inquire  into  what  is  meant  by  matter. 
Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  define  it,  hut  it  is  more  difficult 
co  yive  a  brief  definition  than  one  might  at  first  imagine.  "  What 
ever  occupies  space  or  whatever  affects  our  senses"  have  been  given 
as  definitions,  but,  ;'if  we  say  that  it  is  whatever  occupies  space,"  there 
may  be  any  number  of  things  in  illimitable  space  that  are  not  sub- 
ject to  any  of  the  physical  laws  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge. 
"  If  we  say  whatever  affects  our  senses,  we  are  again  going  beyond 
our  warrant,  for  electricity  is  capable  of  affecting  several  of  our 
senses — sight,  taste,  feeling — and  yet  there  is  no  good  reason  for 
thinking  electricity  to  be  matter."  The  best  definition  I  have  yet 
seen  is  given  by  Professor  Do  1  bear  in  his  work  on  "  Matter,  Eth'r 
and  Motion."  "  Whatever  possesses  the  property  of  gravitative 
attraction"  is  matter.  From  this  definition  il  follows  that  th«  prin- 


£93165 


8 

ciples  which  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  others  applied  to  large  masses  of 
matter  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  smallest  atom.  Our  best 
microscopes  have  enabled  us  to  see  particles  of  matter  the  one- 
hondred-thousandth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  yet  this  inconceiv- 
ably minute  particle  is  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  those  that 
govern  the  earth,  with  a  diameter  of  eight  thousand  miles,  or  the 
sun  with  its  diameter  of  eight  hundred  thousand  miles. 

Although  the  smallest  visible  thing  seen  with  the  microscope  is 
the  one-hundrod-thous  <ndth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  yet  "there  is  no 
reason  for  thinking  that  such  a  degree  of  fineness  is  any  approach 
to  the  ultimate   fineness   of  the   parts   into  which   it  is   possible  to 
divide    matter.       For    a    long    time    philosophers    have    considered 
whether  or  not  there  could,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  an  actual 
limit  to  the  divisibility  of   matter,  so  that    the  smallest   fragment 
could  not  be  again  divided  into  two  or  more  parts  by  the  applica- 
tion of  appropriate  means,  thus  making  matter  infinitely  divisible." 
As  examples  of  this,  "gold   may    be   hammered  into  leaves  no  more 
than  one-three-hundredth-thousandth   of  an  inch  thick.     Platinum 
can   be   drawn   out   into  a   wire  finer  than  a  spider's  web — a  single 
grain  may  be  drawn  into  a  mile  of  wire.      A   spider's  web   is  some- 
times so  delicate    that  an    ounce  of  it  would  reach   three   thousand 
miles,   or   from    New   York   to    London.      No   one    would    think    it 
likely   that   such   a  web  would  be  made  up  of  a  single  row  of  atoms 
like  a  string  of  beads,  for  it  would   not  seem  probable   that    such    a 
string  could  have   such   H  degree  of    cohesion  as  spiders'  webs  are 
known  to  possess.      A  grain  of  musk   will  keep  a  room  scented  for 
many  years,  giving  out  its   particles   to   the   currents  of  air  to  be 
wafted  presently  out  of  doors,  yet  in  all  this   time  the  musk  seems 
to  lose  but  little  in  weight."     Faraday  estimated  that   the   particles 
of  gold  in  the  ruby  liquid,  made  by  the  action    of  phosphorus  on    a 
solution    of  gold,  formed  only    the  five  hundred-thousandth  part  of 
the  volume  of  the  liquid — that  is,  that  one  five-hundred-thousandth 
of  each   drop   was  gold,  and  yet  the  particles  reflected  light  when 
rays   of  the  sun  were  thrown   into  the  liquid  with  a  lens.       "The 
spectroscope  will  indicate  the   millionth  of  a  grain  by  the  gas  flame. 
and  the  color  of  a  drop  of   water  is  appreciably  changed  by  the  one- 
three-millionth  of  a  grain  of  fuschine.      Some   substances,  like   the 
essential    oils,  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  and  the  odor   of  flowers,  can 
be    perceived    when    the   quantity    is  certainly  less  than  the  fifty- 


millionth  of  a  grain."  Dr.  Thomson  obtained  sensibly  appreciable 
quantities  of  sulphuret  of  lead,  which,  according  to  his  computa 
tions,  must  have  been  divided  into  at  least  five  hundred  billion 
parts. 

Professor  Dolbear  says  there  are  five  hundred  millions  of  millions 
of  millions  of  molecules  in  a  cubic  inch  of  gas.  Again,  ^one- 
eighth  of  a  grain  of  indigo  dissolved  in  sulphuric  acid  will  give  dis- 
tinctly blue  color  when  dissolved  in  two  and  a  half  gallons  of 
water."  Now,  suppose  the.  amount  of  water  be  doubled,  the  blue 
color  would,  doubtless,  disappear,  but  the  particles  of  iudigo  would 
not  be  obliterated — they  would  be  merely  divided  in  halves,  and 
this  process  of  dilution  might  bn  carried  on  ad  injinitum,  and  still 
particles  of  indigo  would  be  present,  for  it  is  a  well  established 
principle  in  science  "that  whatever  else  may  decay,  atoms  do  not, 
but_  remain  as  types  of  permanency  through  all  imaginable 
changes."  Think  for  a  moment,  as  Dolbear  says,  of  the  wonderful 
"  amount  of  intelligence  associated  with  the  minute  brain  structure 
of  some  of  the  smallpst  forms  of  animal  life — say  the  ant,  and,  so 
far  as  such  intelligence  is  associated  with  atomic  and  molecular 
brain  structure,  the  size  of  the  brain  in  the  smallest  ant,  thougli 
measured  in  thousandths  of  an  inch,  is  sufficiently  large  to  involve 
billions  of  atoms,  and  the  permutations  possible  are  almost  un? 
limited."  But  the  most  striking  example  of  the  extent  to  which 
matter  may  be  divided  and  still  manifest  its  presence,  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  energy,  is  given  by  Tyndall,  who  proved  that  a  quantity  of 
watery  vapor,  so  small  as  to  be  absolutely  inappreciable  by  any 
other  test,  increased  the  absorptive  power  of  dry  air  to  the  obscure 
rays  of  heat  to  such  an  extent  as  to  cause  a  marked  difference  in 
the  deflection  of  the  needle  of  a  galvanometer. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  such  minute  particles  of  matter 
can  affect  the  senses  in  any  appreciable  way,  and  yet  we  have  some- 
thing akin  to  it  in  the  acute  sense  of  smell  of  the  dog.  It  is  well 
known  that  he  can  track  his  master  hours  after  the  tracks  have 
been  made,  showing  very  conclusively  that  minute  particles  of 
matter  from  the  master's  feet  must  have  passed,  not  only  through 
the  leather  of  his  boots,  but  have  left  characteristic  matter  at  each 
footfall. 

Ever  since  the  discovery  of  cell  structure  it  has  been  held  tha*1 
the  primal  cell  per  se  was  the  seat  of  activity  in  all  organized  bodies 


10 

While  this  in  a  sense  is  true,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
the  primal  seat  of  life  (and,  therefore,  of  all  physiological  activities) 
is  in  that  highly  complex,  that  wonderful  substance — protoplasm 
—  that  is  contained  within  the  cell,  which,  structureless  though  it  be, 
is  the  wheel  within  a  wheel  whence  emanates  the  power  to  build. 

It'  we  dissect  this  structureless  mass,  we  will  find  it  composed  of 
numberless  molecules,  and  each  molecule  composed  of  from  three  to 
one  thousand  atoms,  so  curiously  combined  that  they  are  the  very 
seat  of  life  Sifted  to  its  ultimates,  the  first  physical  form  of  all 
material  bodies  is  the  atom.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  order  of 
growth.  Atoms  variously  combined  form  molecules,  and  molecules 
with  their  contained  life-principle,  constitute  protoplasm,  which, 
when  in  normal  condition,  is  capable  of  organizing  itself  into  cells, 
tissues  and  organs 

It  was  formerly  .thought  that  the  cell  was  the  unit  of  the  physiolo- 
gist ;  but,  as  the  microscope  was  improved  and  anatomical  research 
continued,  it  became  evident  that  the  cell,  with  its  more  or  less  com- 
plicated structure,  was  itself  built  by  the  structureless  protoplasm, 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  is  composed  of  different  kinds  of 
atoms.  Strange,  though  it  may  seem,  this  structureless  protoplasm 
is  capable  of  organizing  itself  into  cells  and  tissues  in  the  same 
sense  as  atoms  organize  themselves  into  molecules  and  molecules  into 
crystals  of  various  sorts,  having  properties  that  depend  upon  the 
different  kind  of  atoms,  their  number  and  arrangement  in  the 
molecules.  Thus  we  see  that  atoms  play  an  important  part  in  the 
structure  of  the  universe.  To  accomplish  what  is  claimed  for  th^my 
it  is  evident  that  they  possess  the  property  of  chemism,  and  by 
some  it  is  thought  there  is  good  reason  for  believing  they  are  mag- 
nets. But,  notwithstanding  they  possess  these  properties,  condi- 
tions sometimes  exist  when  they  will  not  arrange  themselves  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  chemism  or  magnetism,  a  condition  that  resembles 
the  living  organism  when  disease  prevents  its  normal  activities. 
For  example,  "  some^supersaturated  solutions  seem  unable  to  initiate 
the^process  of  crystallization,  but  the  smallest  crystal  of  the  sub- 
stance  starts  ir.  ;in<!  the  v.'lmle  !>o<ly  is  solidified  in  a  few  seconds. 
Here  it  is  evident  that  the  crystal,  taken  as  a  nucleus,  had  &  field 
that  compelled  other  and  similar  molecular  groups  to  arrange 
themselves  in  similar  order.  When  two  tuning  forks,  having  the 
same  pitch,  are  separated  from  each  other  a  distance  of  several  feet,, 


11 

and  one  of  them  be  made  to  produce  a  sound,  the  other  one  will  be  made 
to  sound  likewise  by  the  action  of  the  sound  waves  upon  it.  The  effect 
is  called  sympathetic  vibration.  Other  forks  having  different  rates 
of  vibration  will  not  be  similarly  affected,  so  the  vibrations  in  the 
air  select  out  the  particular  fork  having  the  same  rate  as  the 
one  vibrating  and  cause  it  to  enter  into  a  similar  state  of  vibration. 
Raise  the  damper  of  the  piano  and  sing  a  sound  of  any  particular 
not* ;  then  listen.  The  same  note  will  be  heard  prolonged  by  the 
piano.  The  particular  string  which  can  give  that  pitch  of  sound 
has  been  thrown  into  similar  vibrations  and  continues  to  sound  as 
it  would  if  caused  to  in  any  other  way.  When  a  single  key  of  a 
piano  is  struck  there  is  produced  a  musical  sound.  There  is  a  defi- 
nite pitch  that  is  maintained.  Strike  half  a  dozen  adjacent  keys  at 
once  and  the  effect  is  what  we  call  a  noise,  though  each  component 
by  itself  would  give  a  pleasing  sound.  Nearly  every  body  has  its 
own  musical  pitch,  but  if  a  number  of  bodies  with  different  un- 
related pitches  are  listened  to  at  once  the  effect  upon  the  ear  is  a 
discordant  one  and  is  called  a  noise." 

So  it  appears  with  a  magnet.  Any  magnetic  bodies  in  its  field 
become  magnetized  there — that  is,  they  are  brought  into  the  same 
physical  state  as  the  body  that  incited  the  field. 

"Such  physical  fields  are  capable  of  compelling  bodies  within 
them  to  assume  the  state  of  motion  or  similar  position  or  both  as 
the  body  that  produced  the  field,  provided  the  substance  itself  be 
constituted  inolecularly  like  the  first.  It  is  a  kind  of  induction 
common  throughout  the  whole  domain  of  physics."  So  also  in  the 
animal  economy,  "growth  consists  in  the  formation  of  similar  cells 
out  of  suitable  molecular  constituents  in  the  neighborhood." 

From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  there  is  a  law  of  similars  in 
science  as  well  as  in  medicine,  and  the  examples  given  above  (which 
have  been  gleaned  from  scientific  works)  suggest  a  scientific  expla- 
nation as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  most  similar  remedy  produces 
a  cure.  From  what  we  have  seen,  it  is  evident  that  every  medici- 
nal substance  is  capable  of  producing  what  is  known  in  science  as  a 
field.  This  being  true,  the  remedy  that  is  similar  to  the  atoms  and 
molecules  that  compose  the  primal  cell,  which  is  the  seat  of  the 
disease,  creates  a  healthy  field  in  the  vicinity  of  the  diseased  mole- 
cules, and,  like  the  similar  crystal  in  the  supersaturated  solution  (to 
which  reference  has  already  been  made),  a  healthy  movement  is  in- 


12 

augurated  from    within  outward,  which    continues  until  the  whole 
economy  is  restored  to  health. 

From  what  we  have  already  seen,  it  is  evident  that  when,  from 
the  interference  of  any  cause,  the  atoms  and  molecules  of  -the  proto- 
plasm which  constitutes  the  primal  cell  are  distuned,  as  Hahnemann 
has  it,  a  healthy  field  or  condition  can  only  lie  established  by  the 
action  of  a  similar  substance  or  medicine,  the  vibrations  of  whose 
molecules  are  similar  to  the  vibrations  of  the  molecules  of  the 
diseased  cell.  Like  the  tuning  fork  in  the  example  given  above, 
the  disordered  molecules  of  the  primal  cell  will  vibrate  in  a  normal 
manner  only  when  acted  upon  by  a  remedy  whose  molecules  have 
similar  vibrations  ;  or,  as  Hahnemann  teaches  us,  by  a  remedy  that 
is  able  to  produce  symptoms  like  the  symptoms  of  the  disease.  This 
being  true,  it  is  evident  that  to  give  more  than  one  remedy  at  a  time 
in  the  same  case  is  unscientific.  As  every  drug  is  capable  of  pro 
ducing  &  field  peculiar  to  itself,  it  would  certainly  be  unscientific  to 
produce  two  or  more  fields  in  the  vicinity  of  the  diseased  cells  atone 
and  the  same  time.  It  would  be  like  the  example  of  the  piano  given 
above — a  discord  would  be  the  inevitable  result.  The  single  remedy, 
therefore,  is  the  only  scientific  mode  for  prescribing  for  the  sick. 

Science  also  suggests  a  reason  for  making  the  infinitesimal  dilu- 
tions used  in  Homreopathic  practice.  Atoms,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  are  the  ultimates  of  all  physical  forms,  and,  to  reach  them 
successfully  when  diseased,  it  is  evident  that  atoms  should  be  used, 
for  it  is  a  well  established  principle  of  science  that  atoms  combine 
with  atoms  for  which  they  have  an  affinity. 

The  method  of  dividing  and  subdividing  medicines  which  Hahne- 
mann found  from  experience  to  be  the  best  adapted  to  the  cure  of 
disease,  and  especially  of  all  chronic  diseases,  is,  therefore,  in  full 
accord  with  the  principles  of  science.  It  matters  not,  then,  whether 
we  view  Hahnemann's  teachings  from  the  standpoint  of  the  physician 
or  the  physicist,  his  conclusions  are  incontrovertible,  for  science  and 
Homeopathy  rest  on  the  same  foundation. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  dilutions  of  Hahnemann,  and  especially  of 
those  of  his  followers,  who  have  carried  potencies  much  higher  than 
those  of  the  master,  exceed  in  minuteness  anything  that  has  been 
attained  by  science.  Admitting  this  to  be  true,  it  does  not  violate 
the  teachings  of  science,  for,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  conclusion 


13 

of  philosophers  is  that  "  by  the  application  of  appropriate  means, 
matter  may  be  infinitely  divisible." 

There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  for  supposing  that  the  curative 
principle  of  drugs  is  separated  from  material  substances  in  making 
the  highest  potencies.* 

There  are  those  in  the  Homoeopathic  School  who  will  challenge 
this  statement,  for  it  is  well  known  that  their  claim  is  that  dynam- 
ization  not  only  separates  the  "  vital  force "  of  drugs  from  the 
material  with  which  it  is  combined,  but^  also  increases  its  curative 
power.  While  this  may  be  true,  it  is  only  a  theory  for  which,  so 
far  as  I  am  informed,  there  is  no  analogy  in  science.  In  fact,  the 
conclusion  of  "all  students  of  biology  of  the  present  age  is  that  vital 
force  as  an  entity  has  no  existence,  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  all  biolo- 
gists at  the  present  time  that  there  are  no  special  forces  of  any  kind 
—that  all  physiological  phenomena  whatever  can  be  accounted  for 
without  going  beyond  the  bounds  of  physical  and  chemical  science." 
As  to  the  origin  of  life,  science  is  agnostic. 

It  has  been  said  that  when  chemists  "  shall  be  able  to  form  the 
substance  protoplasm,  it  will  possess  all  the  properties  it  is  now 
known  to  have,  including  what  is  called  its  life."  That  this  state- 
ment is  incorrect  it  is  only  necessary  to  remark  that  chemists  have 
formed  "  the  substance  protoplasm,"  but  they  cannot  make  it  act. 
This  shows  most  conclusively  that  life  is  that  mysterious  principle 
which  pervades  all  organized  bodies  and  without  whose  dynamic 
influence  all  physiological  processes  cease.  While  this  is  undoubtedly 
true,  it  is  also  equally  true  (hat  when  the  phenomena  of  things  about 
us  and  the  functions  within  us  are  carefully  studied  and  well  under- 
stood, it  will  be  found  that  motion  plans  an  important  part  in 
everything  that  occurs.  For  example,  heat  is  the  result  of  the 
vibratory  motion  of  atoms  and  molecules,  while  "  electricity  is  a 
phenomenon  of  rotary  molecules."  "Light  is  undulatory  move- 
ments, or  ether  waves,  the  source  of  which  is  the  vibratory  motions 
of  the  atoms  and  molecules  of  the  sun,  which  come  to  us  at  the  rate 


•This  is  taught  by  Hahncmann  in  the  Organon,  see  note  to  Sec.  280,  wherehesays: 
"Let  these  ordinary  practitioners  ask  mathematicians  to  demonstrate  the  truth 
that,  although  a  substance  be  divided  into  ever  so  many  parts,  some  portion  of  this 
substance,  however  minute,  must  still  constitute  each  one  of  these  parts;  that  the 
most  inconceivably  minute  fractional  particle  never  ceases  to  be  something  of  the 
original  substance  and,  hence,  that  it  can  never  become  nothing. 


293165 


14 

of  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  thousand  miles  per  second."  Sci- 
ence teaches  us  that  "all  phenomena  involves  the  motions  of 
matter." 

A  favorite  expression  of  Homoeopaths,  and  especially  of  the  high 
dilutionists,  is  that  disease  is  disturbed  vital  force;  but,  if  the  con- 
clusions of  scientists  are  worthy  of  consideration,  a  better  definition 
would  be  that  disease  is  disturbed  atomic  and  molecular  motion,  which, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  can  be  most  readily  restored  to  its  normal 
condition  by  the  administration  of  the  most  similar  remedy  in  atomic 
quantities. 

In  close  connection  with  the  theory  that  disease  is  disturbed  vital 
force,  is  that  other  theory  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made,  viz: 
that  the  vital  force  or  spiritual  essence  of  drugs  can  be  separated 
from  its  material  relations  and  attached  to  other  substances,  such  as 
sugar  of  milk  or  alcohol.  To  sustain  this  theory,  it  is  argued  that 
certain  substances  which  in  the  crude  state  are  inert,  become  active 
remedies  when  carried  through  several  degrees  of  potentization.  That 
this  is  true  of  such  drugs  as  gold,  vegetable  carbon,  silicia,  platinum, 
and  others,  cannot  be  successfully  denied.  But  to  explain  this  really 
wonderful  result  it  is  not  necessary  to  introduce  a  mysterious  theory 
which  requires  us  to  believe  that  the  curative  principle  of  drugs  is  a 
spiritual  essence.  The  attempt  to  maintain  such  a  theory  is  not 
only  a  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  many  minds,  but  it  is  contrary 
to  all  scientific  experience.  As  is  well  understood,  this  so-called 
spiritual  development  is  attained  by  potentization.  But  what  is 
potentization?  It  is  nothing  more  mysterious  than  the  divisibility 
of  matter  according  to  an  arbitrary  but  very  convenient  rule.  Is 
there  any  mystery  about  its  action  in  the  case  of  those  substances 
which  in  the  crude  state  are  inert?  Certainly  not.  It  merely  sets 
free  their  atoms  and  molecules,  and,  as  we  have  already  seen,  gives 
them  an  opportunity  for  greater  freedom  of  action.  An  example  of 
this  is  found  in  metallic  mercury,  which  in  its  crude  state  is  abso- 
lutely inert,  but  when  vaporized  by  heat  and  its  molecules  set  free, 
it  becomes  a  most  potent  and  rapid  poison.  If  we  admit  that  the 
curative  power  of  drugs  is  a  spiritual  force  that  can  be  detached 
from  its  material  mother,  can  it  be  made  more  spiritual  and  its 
curative  powers  increased  by  being  still  further  potentized?  Skinner, 
who  is  an  authority  on  Homoeopathic  science,  claims  that  it  is 


15 

not  potentization  hut  dilution.*  Is  it  possible  to  dilute  that  which 
is  characterized  by  the  absence  of  the  properties  that  distinctly  be. 
long  to  matter?  This  would  seem  to  involve  an  absurdity.  It  is 
certainly  not  scientific. 

These  thoughts  are  not  uttered  with  a  desire  to  reflect  upon 
IJahnemann,  for  I  have  the  most  exalted  opinion  of  his  genius;  but 
the  facts  set  forth  in  this  paper  show  how  far  he  was  in  advance  of 
the  men  of  his  time.  The  explanations  given  by  Hahnemann  in  re- 
gard to  the  action  of  medicines  can  be  accounted  for  on  the  «round 

O 

that  science,  in  his  time,  was  in  its  infancy,  and  as  the  results 
(which  his  keen  observation  and  experience  had  %vrought  out)  could 
not  be  explained  by  science  as  it  was  then  understood,  he  very 
naturally  attributed  whatever  he  could  not  explain  to  those  spiritual 
influences  for  which  he  had  the  most  profound  reverence. 

*  I  do  not  agree  with  Skinner.  It  is  undoubtedly  potentization  or  the  divisibility 
of  matter  by  which  its  molecules  and  atoms  are  set  free. 


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OCT2    1981 


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DEC    41981 


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REC'D  LD-URL 


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4  1975 


Form  L3- 


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T.TBRARY 


'jt  A      000006725    6_ 


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